Scouting the enemy: The Dallas Stars

by Hooks Orpik on Mar 1, 2009 11:47 AM EST

Record:29-25-7 (11th in the Western Conference)

Leading scorers: Mike Riberio (15G, 41A), Loui Eriksson (27G, 17A)

Dallas, a sexy pick to make it to the Stanley Cup finals, has been by all accounts, a circus this season. A poor start followed by the whole Sean Avery fiasco, Brett Hull making news for not really doing anything in his position, then a turnaround in the standings....Until lately where they've lost four straight games and last night Steve Ott poked a dude in the eyes, drawing an automatic suspension for this game.

Dallas is in a similiar position to Pittsburgh; both went deep into the playoffs last season, but neither have had a smooth ride this year.

Both are just a couple of points out of the playoffs (Dallas is two points out, the Pens are currently 1 point out).
Both have had key injuries; Brad Richards is out, captain Brendan Morrow shredded his knee, Sidney Crosby's status for today's game still unkown.
Both Dallas and Pittsburgh have been disappointed by their Scandanvian rookie imports; Fabian Brunnstrom has 13 goals (and is a -9) in 41 games, while Janne Pesonen's barely been a blip on the radar.
Marc-Andre Fleury (23-16-4, 2.90 GAA, .908 SV%) and Marty Turco (28-23-7, 2.80 GAA, .897 SV%) have very similiar numbers and heavy workloads. Both are expected to start, it'll be Turco's 33rd game in a row.